Daisies
by Meova
Summary: Holly is being stalked, and she doesn't know what to do. Add to that a kidnapping. How will Holly react? What will Artemis do? Will it bring them closer together? Slightly A/H.


Daisies

The phone rang. Holly picked up. 'Hi, Holly Short speaking.' While she waited for the caller to reply, she looked at the clock. It was about 3 o'clock. After what felt like ages, he still hadn't said a thing. 'Hello?' She jumped a bit when the other person finally spoke. The voice sounded very familiar and freaky at the same time.

'You're very pretty, you know. Way too pretty, actually. I'm afraid that's not allowed. You're risking a death sentence. Hope you like daisies...' The caller hung up. Holly stood there, speechless. What was the caller talking about? Looking at the clock again made Holly realise she was late. Very late, actually. Root would kill her for sure. She had to be in the LEP at half past three, and it was already 20 past. She hadn't realised she stood there for such a long time. And now, she would have to rush to make the trip to the LEP 15 minutes, which was the absolute quickest she could manage. She raced out of her house, forgetting about the caller as she went.

During the meeting, Holly received a mail. She decided to read it after the meeting. On the other end of the table, Foaly kept talking about a new invention of his, named the buzzer. Holly's attention hung around long enough to hear that it was used to shake criminals in a certain way, so they lost control over their body. After that, her mind just kept wandering. First she thought about the call. What did it mean? Then she thought about Artemis. She always seemed to think about him lately. Her safe haven, she thought while sighing. Of all people, he was the one person she always felt safe around. Even though he had kidnapped her... When she heard people chatter and leave, she shot back in the present. The meeting was over. Foaly was cleaning his things away. Holly, remembering the mail, opened it. What she read, made the colour drain her face.

'Holly? What's going on?' Foaly asked.

'I... I just got a mail,' Holly replied.

'Oh, really? Let me guess. Artemis?

'No, it's not from Artemis. At least, I really hope not.'

'Huh? Holly, you need to explain yourself more clearly.' Holly showed the mail to Foaly.

'"I love pretty girls. Especially when they're pushing daisies."

" What's so creepy about that? You've heard much worse. And it's not even aimed directly at you!'

'It's creepy, Foaly, because I got a call today from someone.'

'Who? And what did he say?'

'I don't know who. And he said something about me being pretty, and that I was risking death by being so pretty.' 'Hmm. Do you want me to find out who our 'anonymous' sender is?'

'If you want to, yes please.' She handed her little computer over to Foaly, and went home.

That night, she had a nightmare. It would be the first of many. She was in a dark building. Hiding for something, scared to death. Everytime she would find a way out, it wouldn't be possible to get out through it. In the meantime, footsteps behind her were getting closer all the time. If they reached her, she would not live to tell the tale...

Holly woke up, remembering her dream vividly. There was something about that dream... It just gave her the creeps. Of course it does, she said to herself, it's a nightmare. It's supposed to give you the creeps. Still, she wanted to talk to Artemis. She looked at the clock. 6.24 am. He would be awake right now, since the time in Ireland was 3 hours later than in Haven. And, like by magic, her phone rang. She looked on the display to see who called. It said anonymous. Hoping it would be Artemis, she picked up anyway. And shot up when she heard a familiar voice. 'Have you bought any daisies lately? You better. You might want to enjoy them while you can...' The caller hung up.

'Artemis.'

'Hi, Artemis, it's Holly.'

'What's wrong, Holly?'

'How do you know something's wrong? Wait. Don't tell. You analyzed my voice?'

'No, actually, I just had that feeling.' Holly's mouth fell open. Artemis never trusted feelings. He wanted solid facts. Maybe she had a good influence on him.

'Well, Artemis, a couple of things happened today, and it scared me a bit.'

'What happened?'

'Let's just say some freak deciding to try and scare me.' Artemis sighed.

'Holly, just tell me what happened!'

'Some guy called me twice today and sent me a mail, basically telling me I'll die soon.'

'Holly?' Artemis' voice sounded calm. 'I want you to come to my place, Fowl Manor. Now.' Holly wanted to say yes, but she couldn't. She's a LEPrecon, for crying out loud! If anyone should be able to deal with this, it should be Holly. Besides, it had only been one day. Surely he'd stop tomorrow?

'No, Artemis, but thanks for the offer. I'll stay here.' Artemis mumbled something. 'What?'

'Nothing. But, Holly, if this continues for a week, you'll come here, or I'll be coming personally down there to drag you. Understood? Or rather,' he added after some thinking, 'make that 5 days.'

After talking to Artemis, Holly almost had to chain herself to the wall to avoid her from going to Artemis anyway. But she didn't give in. She composed herself, and went back to bed. She could use another hour of sleep, and sicne Root decided to give her the day off, she had that luxury. A few minutes later, her doorbell rang. Swearing softly, she went to open the door.

'I have a delivery for Ms. Short,' the man said.

'That's strange, I didn't expect something,' she replied.

'Would you please sign here?'

Holly signed, and took the package. She closed the door and opened it. It had looked so innocent from the outside... She dropped it immediately, flying upstairs and under her blanket. She calmed herself enough to go to sleep, but all she dreamed about was the package and the decomposing daisies that were in there.

When she woke up again, she decided to call the delivery factory. They would surely have information about the sender of the package? She dialed the number. When she hung up, she was nowhere nearer to finding out who the psycho was. The package came from a certain Anon Y. Mouse. She thought about that for a while, but got interropted by the phone.

'Hello, Holly Short speaking.' On the other side, she heard nothing but panting. Then:

'I hope you liked my package. Specially made it for you. I would be very angry if you're not happy with them. And I can do really scary things when angry...' As usual, he hung up, leaving Holly to listen to her own accelerated breathing. She almost jumped when the phone rang again, but recovered and picked up. It was Foaly.

'I can't believe it. I just can't believe it.'

'What?' Holly asked, getting nervous.

'This person manages to stay anonymous all the time, even for me. I just can't get any information about him!' Foaly mumbled on, obviously infuriated at himself.

'Foaly, it doesn't matter. This psycho won't get to me. Besides, it's bad enough as it is already, with Artemis worrying about me.'

''Yes, but you know why that is,' Foaly replied. Holly sighed.

'Of course I know. He's in love with me. So what? I'd worry about him too when something like this would happen to him.'

'But that's because you're in love with him, too.'

Holly's voice turned icy. 'Cut the crap, Foaly. I'm certainly not in love with him. You know I'm not.'

'Well, you certainly don't act like you're not. Take care, Holly. Call me if something else happens.'

Before Holly could get mad at the centaur, he had hung up.

Now, Holly hated having the day off. Usually, she would've gone to the LEP to work, doesn't matter what the situation would be, but Root strictly forbad her to even look at the LEP building. So, what to do? She tried cleaning the house, but Holly had never been much of a cleaning elf. So she stopped fairly quickly with that. She couldn't keep her mind on it, either. Maybe she could try a walk. With music on, on full volume. Holly knew she would damage her ears, but her magic would heal it anyway. So she took her music-player, placed the earphones in her ears and went for the park. She was listening to some random songs when she suddenly heard So Cold, by Breaking Benjamin. 'You're so cold, but you feel alive...' She quickly skipped to the next song. That was This is How I Disappear, by My Chemical Romace. Next song. In Too Deep, by Sum 41. Aaah. Better.

'Daisies, ma'am?' Holly jumped. 'Sorry. Didn't mean to scare you.' She stopped the music.

'What?' The daisy-seller repeated the last sentence. 'Just don't push daisies in my face again and you'll be fine.' She returned home. It was the first time she locked her door when she was inside. The first of many.

Three days went by like this. Every day, Holly would get a few creepy calls. A couple of times, she'd receive a letter, mail, or package, which all revolved around daisies. She wouldn't admit it, to no one, not even Artemis, but this was really starting to freak her out. She always locked the door, jumped when her phone rang, and couldn't go outside after sunset anymore. She loathed herself for it. She, who had stopped Koboi two times, who had been kidnapped, almost killed a couple of times, she was afraid! No, not just afraid. She was horrified. However, she kept up pretences. She acted like the strong woman she'd always been, but honestly, she just wanted to go to Artemis and Butler. She thought about the phone call Artemis made with her a couple of days ago. Tomorrow, the dead-line he had set would be over. And he'd come to get her. She couldn't wait.

So, when the next day arrived at last, Holly was so relieved. Finally she'd be out of reach of the stalker. When her phone rang, she almost danced towards it, expecting it to be Artemis.

'Artemis?'

'Who's Artemis, your boyfriend?' She shivered when she heard the voice, which she knew all too well by now.

'What do you have to say this time?' Holly sighed. She knew she should've hung up, but just like the other times, she just couldn't.

'Oh, not much really. Just wanted to say hi, that's all.'

'Well, hi then.'

'So, this Artemis of yours… I think he would really like a small place for himself. Maybe a few flowers on top… You know which ones I prefer.'

'Daisies,' Holly whispered.

'Yes, those. Don't worry, I'll make sure he'll get them. I know everything…'

He hung up. Holly was scared to death. It was bad enough being threatened herself, but Artemis, it was just too much. Tears started spilling from her eyes, and she couldn't do anything but cry for the next hour.

When Artemis called, she was still crying. She almost didn't manage to get to the phone in time, blinded by tears as she was. Artemis was extremely worried when he heard Holly. He didn't waste any time, but ordered Butler immediately to call Foaly, to get Holly in Fowl Manor. While Butler did what he was told, Artemis tried to calm down Holly. But he didn't really succeed. Every word he said, reminded her of the stalker. And her body ached so much… She just wanted to be with her safe haven. So when Artemis told her Foaly was making sure she could get to Fowl Manor, she cried again, from relieve this time.

'Your pod goes at 1 a.m.,' he informs Holly. 'That shouldn't be a problem, right?'

Oh, it was a problem for Holly. A public place in the dark? But she forced herself to say:

'No, Artemis, that's not a problem. I'll see you tomorrow!'

It costed her so much courage to just get to the shuttles, that she was wondering how she could ever stay sane in there. When she boarded, she sat down and tried to stay calm. It was just an hour, she told herself. In an hour, I'll be with Artemis. And because she kept repeating that to herself, she managed not to freak out. Oh, how relieved she was when she saw the bright night sky from Ireland. She got out of the shuttle as quickly as she could. When she saw Artemis, she ran towards him. Holly saw how worried he'd been from his whiter-than-usual face and the dark spots beneath his eyes. He gently took her wrists.

'Let's go to Fowl Manor,' he said.

When Holly got out of bed at 6 a.m., she wondered why she had woken up. Then Butler came in her room.

'Some idiotic mailman delivered a package. It was addressed to you. I think it's from Root. Do you want it now or later?'

'I'll open it now. Thanks, Butler.'

Butler left the room, leaving behind the package. Holly yawned, and thought about going back to sleep for a couple more hours. She hadn't had much sleep lately. Every night she woke up, almost screaming because of the nightmare. But she became too curious now. What could Root possibly send her? So, naturally, she opened it, and screamed in frustration. Artemis ran in. She'd clearly alarmed him. Great.

'What's wrong, Holly?' he asked. She merely pointed at the box. It hadn't been from Root. He would never send her daisies, wrapped in a ribbon. 'For your graves,' it said on them. She didn't realise she was crying yet again until Artemis tried to soothe her.

'It's okay, Holly. He won't hurt you, I promise. Butler's here, after all.'

When his words didn't help, he hugged her, and Holly broke down completely.

When she was a little bit in control again, Artemis pulled her on the bed, and he sat down next to her. Poor Holly was so exhausted now that she couldn't even sit without help. So she fell on the bed, flat on her back. Artemis laid down beside her, and held her hand while the tears streamed silently across her face. Just look at me, she thought to herself. A strong woman, who is having a freaking breakdown because of a stupid stalker! She hated herself for it. But she knew that things would go right from now on. She was with Artemis, and, of course, Butler. No one would be stupid enough to come near Butler. She fell asleep, feeling safe.

When she woke up again, two hours later, the first thing she noticed was that Artemis had been watching her, his arm wrapped around her waist. She turned around and smiled at him.

'Am I that interesting?' she asked.

'You are, but you're also really pretty when you don't look so worried,' he replied. Holly froze. For an instant, Artemis sounded like the stalker. At that moment, her phone rang. She looked helplessly at Artemis, silently asking him for help. He understood what she wanted, and picked up her phone, tightening his grip on her waist.

'Hello.'

'Is this Holly Short speaking?' she heard faintly.

'No. Who are you?'

'Well, the number's right,' the stalker mumbled to himself. 'Oh, I know. You must be Artemis. Tell Holly I said hi, would you? Did she like my flowers, by the way?'

Artemis hung up. Holly tried not to freak this time, and crawled tightly against Artemis, seeking comfort. He carefully kissed her forehead, and she hid her fact in his chest, while he softly stroked her hair.

Even though the stalker stalked her even more that day, Holly didn't care. For the first time in a week, she wasn't worried or afraid. She and Artemis stayed in her room all day, basically doing nothing. They never saw Butler, only when he'd bring them some food. But when the night came, Holly became afraid again. There was no way that the nightmare would stay away for two nights. Artemis felt her trembling and held her closer.

'What are you afraid of, Holly?' he asked.

'I don't want the nightmare to repeat,' she whispered.

'If you want to, I could stay with you,' he offered.

Holly didn't want to act like the strong woman now, not when it could cost her her sanity. So she took the offer. While he was away to grab some things, she thought about him. What would happen next, after this? She didn't have a clue yet when Artemis came back and crept beside her again.

She'd been right, of course. After she'd wished Artemis good night, she had fallen asleep immediately. She woke up screaming, almost waking Artemis. She didn't want to do that, but she also wanted comforting. So she turned around again, pulling his arm around her waist and hiding her face in his chest, like she'd done before. She looked up once, whispering something in his ear.

'I love you…'

The next time Holly woke up, Artemis was gone. She thought nothing much of it. Probably he'd gone to the kitchen to eat something, since it was 11 a.m. already. Holly decided to get up too, eat some breakfast maybe. But when she walked out of her room, she immediately bumped into Butler.

'Holly? Thank God he didn't take you too!'

'Wow, what? What are you talking about?'

Butler sighed. 'Didn't you notice yet Artemis is gone?'

'Hey, I'm barely awake. He could've been anywhere in this huge house!' Holly said defensively.

'Oh, by the way, someone delivered another package for you,' Butler informed her.

Holly felt her blood freeze. Could it be? She flew downstairs, ripping open the package. What she saw in there made her want to break down again. But this time there would be no Artemis to calm her.

In a little less than an hour, she and Butler were on their way. Holly had the box on her lap, and kept staring at the picture. How could someone be such a psycho? She asked herself that over and over. And how could he have gotten Artemis without waking her? She was sure that that should've been impossible. She looked at the picture again. It still shocked her, even after having seen in a couple of times. She was sure she'd never truly get the image of Artemis, tied to a chair, out of her head. Butler had, luckily, recognised the building. Holly had, too. It was a room in the building she always dreamt about. She knew her nightmare could come true now. And if she couldn't save Artemis, she knew she would never forgive herself.

When they were in the building, Holly starting calling Artemis' name. Until Butler covered her mouth with his hand.

'Shhh,' he whispered, 'we don't want to be heard.'

He removed his hand. They started walking around, looking in every room. Not much luck there, they found Artemis in the last room they checked.

'Artemis!' Holly yelled, and before Butler could stop her, she was running towards Artemis. She stopped dead in her tracks, though, when she spotted the daisies. They were everywhere. A little bit more careful now, she walked towards Artemis. He couldn't see her, though, because of the blindfold before his eyes. She quickly removed it. He looked at her, his eyes full of hate. That disappeared when he recognised Holly. She pulled the tape from his mouth.

'Holly.' He sounded relieved.

'It's me,' she replied with a smile. She started working on untying Artemis.

She had finished his hands, and was now trying to undo the knots that tied his feet to the chair, when she heard a familiar voice.

'Turn around nice and slowly, and I might let you live.' It was the stalker's voice. Artemis' eyes widened in shock.

'You?'

'Yes, it's me.'

When Holly heard the voice change, she turned around. Her mouth fell open when she saw Butler, with a big gun in his hand. And it was pointed at them.

'Butler? Are you the stalker?' Holly asked disbelieving.

'No, I'm not, that would be my twin brother,' he replied sarcastically.

'Holly,' she heard Artemis whisper, 'try to block me from Butler's view, then I can try to free myself.' She did as Artemis had told her. Butler didn't notice it. She kept Butler talking the whole time, trying her best to keep his attention away from Artemis. A crude plan started to form in her head. It was far from perfect, but it'd had to make do. Artemis whispered he was free. She looked quickly at him, and knew he had the same plan.

Of course, the plan wasn't perfect. Only a fool would try to get past Butler, screaming and all. It was no surprise that he managed to grab Artemis. When he did that, though, Holly escaped, silently promising Artemis she'd come back for him. She heard a soft click of metal, but didn't turn around to see what it was. She was way too busy running away for that. Butler was coming after her, she could hear his footsteps. She knew this situation by heart; it was exactly like her dream. Holly tried a window. Locked. She knew it. She tried to make her way back to Artemis, but got lost. That wasn't too handy, especially since she heard Butler coming closer. Would she ever get out alive? And, most importantly, would Artemis too?

After what seemed like hours, Butler gave up. Just like that. Exhausted as she was from the running, Holly just leaned against the wall to catch her breath. She nearly jumped a mile when she heard Artemis' voice.

'Why are you doing this, Butler?'

'What d'you mean? Kidnap you or stalking Holly?'

'Both.'

'Well, I stalked Holly so you could see who she really was. It's not normal, Artemis, the way you get distracted by her. It just had to stop! And the kidnapping part, well, that was just for you, because my plan didn't seem to work quite that well.'

Holly heard tape being cut, and after that Artemis, sounding muffled.

'What? I can't hear you.' Butler laughed. 'Now, let's get that little girlfriend of yours.'

Holly could imagine how Artemis would look by now. Pretty furious, that is. She waited until she only heard Butler's footsteps faintly, pretty far away. Then she got back in the hallway again, looking for the chamber next to her hiding place.

That wasn't easy. The first door she saw wasn't it. She also tried the second and the third. But they weren't it either. She went back to where she originally thought the door had been, and leaned her head against the wall. Where could Artemis be? She noticed a tiny hole in the wall. When she went over it with her finger, it got stuck inside of the hole. She tried to pull her finger out, of course. But she ended up opening a hidden door. Her finger was free now, though. She quickly went in the room. Of course, Artemis was held in this room. Holly sighed, cliché. But she ran to Artemis anyway, and tried to free him. However, he was chained to the wall this time, so that wouldn't be easy. She did pull the tape off. That was all she could do anyway. After that, she made another fruitless attempt to free him. He watched her, and when she came too close to his face, he kissed her.

Needless to say, Holly was shocked. She stepped away from Artemis.

'Now is not the time!' she whispered.

'Now might be the only time,' he replied.

Holly, not knowing where to look, examined her pockets. And found the latest gadget by Foaly, the Buzzer. She didn't know whether it could break the chains, but still tried it. The buzzer made them vibrate so violently that Artemis was in a lot of pain, but after about 30 seconds the chain broke. Cliché again, Holly thought. But who cares if it works? So she did the same on the other chain, while Artemis examined his arm.

'Was that necessary?' he asked.

'Hey, you're free. Don't complain.'

The other chain was broken by now as well. She took Artemis by the hand and pulled him towards the door, into the hallway. When they reached a corner, they hid behind it, hearing Butler coming nearer.

'So, Artemis, your girlfriend seems to be good at hiding...' After that, they heard a scream. 'Where the hell did they go?'

Holly and Artemis waited no more, but ran away, trying to find a way out.

When they passed window so-many, Artemis halted. Holly tried to pull him along with her, but didn't manage that. He'd been working out, apparently.

'Holly, can't you use that vibrating thing on this window?' he demanded.

'Artemis, it's unbreakable!' she replied.

'Have you tried it then?'

Holly mumbled something, but got the Buzzer out anyway. And, sure enough, when it touched the window it broke immediately. That got Butler's attention, however, and they heard him sprinting towards them. Holly wasted no time, but pushed Artemis through the broken window, climbing after him. Butler finally reached the window, but because he's so huge, he couldn't fit through it. Still, Holly and Artemis ran a safe distance away. Artemis turned on his fairy communicator.

'Butler forgot to confiscate this,' he explains. Well, it was a different ring now.

'Who are you calling?'

'Foaly. He can get us somewhere safe.'

He didn't even have to wait five seconds, since Foaly had already arrived.

'How come you're here already?' Holly asked.

'We weren't watching over you, no sir,' Foaly replied sarcastically. They quickly hopped in the vehicle and returned to Fowl Manor.

Back there, Artemis got worried about Butler.

'What'll happen with him?' he asked.

'I think we'll give him a mind-wipe, and keep an eye on him. If you still want him as your servant, that is.'

Artemis looked at Holly. She nodded. 'Yeah, I'd kinda like that,' he said, sounding embarrassed. Only Holly knew how much Butler had actually hurt Artemis by betraying him like this. She knew he still wanted him as his servant, but she also knew this would leave scars in Artemis. Before, he'd never trust anyone, and now he would even less. The only person left for him to trust, was her... And she'd break that trust in a few moments time as well. While Holly was thinking this, Butler was being mind-wiped, and Artemis stood next to Holly..

'What will we do now?' he demanded. Holly sighed.

'Probably it's for the best if we just forget it all.'

'You know, you can't deny this.'

'It's only for the best, Artemis. And you know it. Maybe someday...' Holly's heart broke when she made this empty promise. She knew just as well as he did that it could never happen. She walked away, had to get her stuff. She was going back to Haven.

A few weeks later it was Holly's birthday. During the party, her doorbell rang. It was the mailman.

'Delivery from Mr. Butler for Miss Short.'

She signed the paper and took the delivery. It were daisies. Holly froze, then relaxed and laughed at her reaction. She knew she didn't have to worry anymore, not ever.


End file.
